1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electrophotographic reproduction apparatus and methods and, more specifically, to improvements in specifying color accenting or other special treatment modes for selective editing in the reproduction of an original document.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,914,043 an apparatus for electrophotographically reproducing originals with color accenting is described. An original document is placed on a support and indicator members adjacent the support are adjusted to designate the location of areas to be reproduced in one of two colors. The original is exposed onto a photoconductive drum and the image lines that are to be reproduced in the second color are erased and the remaining image is developed with toner of the first color color. A second exposure of the original is made on the photoconductor and the image lines that are to be reproduced in the first color are erased and the remaining image is developed with toner of the second color. The two developed images are transferred in register to a copy sheet to provide the reproduction.
However, as the indicator members are co-located with the support and the original, adjustments must be made while the original is mounted on the copying machine. It is desirable to eliminate this requirement. Further, such use of movable indicators is a tedious and painstaking effort.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,374 (Kurata et al), a picture data processing device is disclosed wherein edited reproductions of an original are made by reproducing or extracting only a selected portion of an original. A separate sheet, referred to as a mark specifying original, is employed to draw lines comprising boundaries for the extracted portion. The mark specifying original is sensed by an image sensor and count value signals are stored that are related to these boundary lines. The document sheet is then read by the image sensor. The data signal used to reproduce the original is inhibited by these signals except for the region which is to be extracted. However, productivity is substantially lowered by the time and effort spent on preparing and using the mark specifying original with each original. When a multisheet document is to be reproduced with selective editing desired for several sheets in the document, the use of extra mark specifying sheets requires an inconvenient, time-consuming step: the sheets must be identified by interleaving or sequencing them with their respective originals.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,538,182 (Saito et al.), an image processing apparatus has CCDs for reading image data of an original, an edge detector for detecting edges of an area specified on the original with a loop or marks of a specific color, and an area detector for detecting the specified area. Memories store the image data read by the CCDs and a data selector and a data switching circuit select the image data read by one of the CCDs which is to be supplied to an inkjet head for recording. For preventing contamination of the original, the loop or marks can be drawn on the original through an original cover including a transparent or semitransparent sheet member facing the image of the original. Images inside and outside the area or areas can be selectively reproduced in various combinations of the normal mode, red output modes involving different types of color conversion, and extinguishing mode. Image data from another source which is stored in another memory can be inserted at a desired part of the reproduced copy.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,777,510, there is disclosed an apparatus and method for electrophotographic reproduction with areas of spot color or with other special treatment. An original document sheet that, for example, is to be reproduced with spot color or color accenting, is highlighted by use of a highlighting marking pen in the areas in which spot color is desired. The original is then scanned by the apparatus to provide signals regarding the locations of the areas of image information to be specially treated. The document sheet is then imaged upon an electrostatically charged photoconductor and developed so that the areas to be specially treated are developed with toner of a different color from that of other portions of the reproduction. Such special treatment may alternatively involve selective halftone screening of an area of the reproduction, shifting of one area relative to another, erasure of a portion from the original, or programming a job stream (a reproduction sequence such as chapterization) when reproducing a multisheet original document.
The reproduction apparatus includes a control panel with input keys for indicating one or more modes of treatment. For example, when spot color is desired, the spot color mode button is depressed and selection made of the respective colors for the non-highlighted information and highlighted information using other color indicating buttons. Once a color, for example black, is chosen for reproduction of the non-highlighted information, the operator may choose to have the highlighted information reproduced in red, green or blue. Several areas on one page may similarly be treated if each area is properly highlighted.
However, the above reproduction apparatus could be simplified by eliminating the selection of special treatments via dedicated control keys. Key operation is always a time-consuming hindrance and is feasible only at the apparatus chosen for making the copies. Moreover, the task of editing--which typically entails the selection of at least one special treatment per original document page--is often done best (or most conveniently) at a place away from the reproduction apparatus, that is, off-line. The task is typically performed during the usual editing process at a desk, office, or other location remote from the copier. The user who devises the editing then is forced to retain the treatment selections in memory, or to record such on scratch paper or the original, to prompt the copier operator for key mode selection later in the reproduction process (when the original is taken to the copier). The difficulty and fallibility of these stopgap methods is commonplace.
It is further desirable that the original be useable at any one of several reproduction apparatus that is equipped with the proper sensing and logic means. In this way the original would be useable at any of several copier machines at the operator's workplace; alternatively, the original could be transported to another site, perhaps many miles distant, for use with equal success. This feature is especially desirable in the event a particular treatment combination is formulated by a user who forgets or otherwise does not anticipate that the combination will be used again. Additionally, as may be inferred from the above, many users are merely unable or unwilling to record a particular combination of treatment modalities. Unfortunately, any treatment mode information is typically cleared from the machine when the next reproduction job is begun; the combination is not easily retained by the original; and the operator's memory is quite unreliable.
A typical example of such a situation occurs when all duplicates of an important form are depleted, leaving only the original, and yet more duplicates must be made. In the absence of some record of a particularly complex combination of modalities and highlighted area coordinates, the combination can be recreated only after a trial-and-error effort. This situation is particularly difficult when the original highlighting is invisible, or when the editor who originally specified the combination is unavailable.
Further, simply marking multiple areas for special treatment does not indicate which of several selectable treatment modes should be applied to a particular area. The apparatus is incapable of distinguishing between several highlighted areas when different treatment modes are to be applied to more than one area. Hence, in the prior art, all highlighted areas on one sheet are usually treated alike. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,777,510, code marks written in a selected margin area of the original can be used to distinguish between different areas of highlighted information. The code is read and deciphered by a logic and control unit (LCU) and thus the operator need not input the information manually on the control panel. In lieu of a code, different highlight inks may be sensed for distinguishing between two or more areas. However, such methods and apparatus are still difficult to use in that a marginal mark is esoteric (the mark is not immediately recognizable as a symbol of its respective treatment mode) and inconvenient (the needed mark or ink color is often forgotten or incorrectly used.) A system of code marks is necessarily encoded according to a scheme which may be difficult for the casual user to reconstruct. Similarly, (in the multiple-ink scheme) a multiplicity of areas requires a corresponding number of differing inks, which is also quite inconvenient.
Many reproduction jobs require that more than one treatment mode be applied to a particular original sheet. The placement of marks at the margin can create ambiguity, in that the positioning of a mark is critical with respect to the highlighted area.
Accordingly, a user needs to be able to highlight a particular area and then add distinguishing information to the highlighted area in a quick, simple, and familiar motion. The preferred highlighting procedure would require no particular combination of inks, code marks, or other unusual steps, devices, or materials. The preferred procedure would thus follow a scheme that is easily learned and remembered, and which is unambiguous in indicating the relationship between the highlighting and the respective areas to be treated. The scheme would be adaptable to a variety of treatment mode combinations, languages, customs, alphabets, and other user-specific conditions and needs that may exist world-wide.